In recent years Google Ads has steadily shifted a growing share of day-to-day management to automated systems.
Smart Bidding, conversion value-based strategies, Performance Max and predictive models have changed the way ad campaigns are built and optimised. The aim is clear: use the analytical power of artificial intelligence to make faster decisions based on a volume of data impossible to handle manually.
But every technological shift brings a consequence: the role of the people using these tools changes.
Google’s announced update to target-based bidding strategies points in exactly this direction. From 17 August 2026, budget-limited campaigns using strategies such as target CPA, target ROAS and target CPC for Demand Gen will behave more consistently with the goals set, even when the budget changes.
The change is about more than a technical tweak to the algorithm. It concerns how advertisers need to interpret a parameter that for a long time was seen simply as a setting.
A target is no longer just a number to enter.
It is a statement of intent.
Target CPA and target ROAS: from technical setting to business goal
To understand the change, start from a basic principle: an automated bidding strategy only performs as well as the goals it is given are correct.
A target CPA set too low can limit the campaign’s ability to compete in the most valuable auctions. A target ROAS set too high can prevent it from gaining enough volume. Conversely, a goal that is too loose can lead to inefficient spending.
The problem often starts before the ad platform is even involved.
It starts with how the business goal is defined.
One of the most common mistakes in online advertising is failing to assess properly how much margin is available to cover the cost of acquisition. A business may have enough margin on a traditional sale, yet not be able to sustain the same model once it adds an advertising cost to generate that same sale.
The margin on a transaction is not automatically the margin available to acquire a customer.
This difference is crucial.
A target CPA should not be chosen because “it’s the cost we would like to pay”, but because it represents a figure compatible with the economic sustainability of the business.
Google Ads does not create margins: it optimises the ones that already exist
Online advertising tools are incredibly powerful.
They let you reach users with a precision unthinkable for traditional media, measure results, optimise spend and build scalable acquisition systems.
But they are not magic.
A common mistake is expecting returns out of all proportion to the initial investment, or imagining that a high ROAS can keep growing indefinitely without consequences.
If that were the case, every company could simply raise its budget forever and get ever greater returns.
Reality is different.
Google Ads operates in a competitive market. Every impression and every click is the outcome of an auction in which other advertisers are making decisions with similar goals. The more competition grows, the more likely it is that the cost of gaining visibility will rise.
The algorithm can optimise how the budget is used.
It cannot remove the economics of the market.
Beating the target does not always mean the target is wrong
One of the most interesting situations involves campaigns that perform better than the goal they were set.
If a campaign has a target CPA of €10 but has been generating conversions at €5 over recent months, it would appear to be a good result.
And it is.
But it needs analysing.
A campaign can over-perform for many reasons: a temporary phase of lower competitive pressure, favourable seasonality, particularly receptive demand, an audience segment that is cheaper than before, or auction conditions that are favourable for the moment.
The data therefore needs interpreting.
The risk is mistaking a passing condition for a new normal.
The new behaviour of bidding strategies makes this assessment even more important, because the stated target carries more weight in steering campaign performance.
In the past, some advertisers treated the target CPA almost as a maximum acceptable limit: “I’m willing to pay up to €10, but if Google can find conversions at €5, even better”.
Now the relationship could become more direct.
The value entered has to genuinely reflect what the company wants to achieve.
The target as a tool for exploration, not a fixed limit
One interesting aspect of this update is that it may offer more granularity as campaigns grow.
A target CPA or target ROAS should not be treated as fixed values.
They can be used as tools to find the balance point between efficiency and volume.
One possible approach is progressive: I set an initial goal, check whether the market lets me reach it, analyse the relationship between cost and volume, and adjust the target gradually based on results.
If a lower CPA than expected is sustainable, I can consider keeping that condition or using the recovered margin for a future growth phase. If, on the other hand, the target is too aggressive and limits the campaign’s competitiveness, I can raise it gradually until I find a more suitable threshold.
Google has also introduced specific tools to support this transition, such as the bid target adjustment tool. But the point is not to use a new feature as soon as it is available. The point is to understand whether the target you have set is still a realistic, sustainable goal that fits the company’s business model.
This is where the real value of the update lies: not in the promise of better results automatically, but in the chance to define more precisely which result we want to achieve.
Scaling a campaign means accepting new conditions
One of the most complex issues in digital advertising is the relationship between growth and efficiency.
Many companies would like to increase their budget while keeping exactly the same CPA or ROAS. But a campaign that grows inevitably enters a different phase.
Increasing volume often means facing new audiences, more competitive auctions, less immediate segments and greater pressure from competitors.
Growth is not simply “doing more with the same system”.
It means reaching a new balance.
This update could make this dynamic even more visible: budget, target and competitiveness will need to be increasingly consistent with one another.
Asking for more conversions is not enough.
You need to understand what investment it takes to get them while keeping the business model sustainable.
How to handle a Google Ads change without reacting on autopilot
When a platform introduces a major update, the most common reaction is to act straight away.
Change the target. Change the strategy. Increase the budget. Tweak the settings.
But that is not always the best choice.
The first step should always be analysing the account history.
Every campaign has its own characteristics: sector, level of competition, sales cycle, conversion quality, margins and commercial goals.
If the current target still correctly reflects the company’s goals, changing it just to adapt to a platform change could be counterproductive.
On the other hand, the update can be an opportunity to review campaigns that have not been analysed in depth for some time.
The point is not to adapt to Google.
It is to check whether Google Ads is still working in the right direction for the business.
The role of the PPC specialist in the age of automation
With more and more automation, some might think campaign management is becoming ever simpler.
In reality, the kind of expertise required is changing.
The specialist’s value no longer lies only in managing bids by hand or constantly adjusting settings.
It lies in the ability to define the boundaries within which the algorithm must operate.
The machine can analyse huge amounts of data. It can spot patterns. It can optimise millions of signals.
But someone still has to decide which goal to pursue, which cost is sustainable, which result has value for the company, and when a data point is an opportunity rather than an anomaly.
Over time these tools are likely to become ever more sophisticated and need less and less hands-on work. But recent years have shown a recurring pattern: every major automated development goes through a stabilisation phase in which the algorithms have to gather data, learn and adapt.
And during this phase there can be swings with a real economic impact.
That is why human oversight remains essential.
Because a client does not entrust their budget to an algorithm.
They entrust it to professionals who use algorithms to reach a goal.
Conclusion
The evolution of Google Ads is not leading to human work being replaced.
It is leading to a change in its value.
Platforms are becoming ever better at optimising what they are asked to do. Which is exactly why it becomes even more important to ask whether what we are asking for is actually right.
A target is not just a setting.
It is a strategic choice.
And like every strategic choice, it has to come from knowing the market, the numbers and the company’s real goals.
Automation can speed up the journey.
The direction, however, still has to be set by people.
LU3G insights
Sources
- Google Ads Help – Automated bidding: Automated bidding strategies use the available signals to optimise auctions against defined goals.
- Google Ads API – Bidding strategies: Google distinguishes between strategies geared to conversions, value, clicks and visibility, each tied to different goals.
Andrea Riva
Andrea Riva handles Paid Advertising at LU3G, where he oversees strategies, campaigns and optimisation on platforms such as Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads. His approach combines data analysis, platform knowledge and a commercial outlook, with the aim of turning ad budget into an investment that is measurable, sustainable and geared to growth.
Andrea Riva
Andrea Riva handles Paid Advertising at LU3G, where he oversees strategies, campaigns and optimisation on platforms such as Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads. His approach combines data analysis, platform knowledge and a commercial outlook, with the aim of turning ad budget into an investment that is measurable, sustainable and geared to growth.